Space Race Read online

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One: The Challenge

  Chapter Two: The Plan

  Chapter Three: The Race Begins

  Chapter Four: Beaten!

  Chapter Five: The Secret Weapon

  About the Author

  Also by Malorie Blackman

  Copyright

  Series Reading Consultant: Prue Goodwin

  Reading and Language Information Centre, University of Reading

  About the Book

  Five … four … three … two … one. Lift-off!

  What can Lizzie do when big-headed Jake challenges her to a race in space? She’s GOT to beat him. But Jake has a super-duper, deluxe new spaceship that runs on special fuel …

  Zoom to Pluto and back with this super space story from award-winning author, Malorie Blackman.

  For Neil and Lizzie, with love

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Challenge

  LIZZIE LOVED LIVING on the Astra Space Station. All her friends on Earth were so jealous when her family moved out there. Lizzie had soon made lots of new friends and it was great fun. There was just one problem. Jake! All he did was brag and show off.

  Today he was at it again, boasting about his brand new, super duper, fat-ace, deluxe spaceship.

  “It’s got the latest computer so all I have to do is tell it where I want to go and when I want to get there and the computer does the rest. And my new ship’s fast because it runs on diamond fuel. It’s one of the first ships anywhere on this space station to run on diamond fuel,” said Jake.

  Huh! If he was any more pleased with himself he’d pop like a balloon, Lizzie thought to herself.

  “I bet I’ve got the best spaceship in the whole school,” Jake continued. He looked around the classroom. “It’s a lot better than any of your ships, that’s for sure.”

  Lizzie had had enough. “Jake, I bet my ship could beat yours any day.”

  The words were out of Lizzie’s mouth before she could stop them. Jake burst out laughing – and he wasn’t the only one. Some others in the class also creased up. Everyone else just looked at Lizzie as if she was seriously nuts!

  “You must be joking!” Jake scoffed. “Your ship couldn’t beat mine if I gave you one year’s head start!”

  “You don’t have to give me a head start. My ship can beat yours any day of the week,” said Lizzie, stubbornly.

  “OK then. Let’s have a race. Out to Pluto and back. The first one back to this classroom wins,” said Jake.

  Lizzie swallowed hard. Oops!

  “Now you’ve done it!” whispered Lizzie’s best friend, Sarah.

  And Sarah was right! It was one thing for Lizzie to sag her ship could beat Jake’s, but it was quite another to prove it. Lizzie’s spaceship was old and it only ran on emerald fuel. Jake’s ship ran on diamond fuel so it travelled a lot faster than hers ever could.

  “I … I …”

  “You’re going to back out, aren’t you?” Jake said smugly.

  “No, I’m not going to back out. OK, you’re on,” said Lizzie. “We’ll have our race this weekend.”

  “Oh no we won’t. Let’s have our race now,” said Jake.

  “But it’s lunch-time,” Lizzie protested. “We can’t race to Pluto and still be back here for our first lesson after lunch.”

  “I can!” Jake smiled. “I can race to Pluto and back in about fifteen minutes!”

  Lizzie’s heart sank. She knew it would take her at least an hour and a half to get to Pluto and back. How could she get out of this?

  “Jake, I hope Lizzie does beat you,” said Naren. “Then maybe you won’t show off so much.”

  “Yeah!”

  “That’s right!”

  Lizzie smiled gratefully at her friends. At least they wanted her to win.

  “She doesn’t stand a chance and you all know it,” Jake said with his usual smirk on his face.

  “Jake, I’ll race you, but let’s have our race tomorrow – early. How about at seven o’clock in the morning?” said Lizzie. “I need to tune up my ship’s engine first.”

  “That’s fine by me,” Jake shrugged. “And you can tune up your ship all you like – you’ll still never beat me.”

  “We’ll see about that,” said Lizzie.

  And she was determined that there was no way Jake was going to win the race. He needed to be taught a lesson. The only trouble was – he was right. Lizzie couldn’t beat him. Not unless she came up with a plan first.

  CHAPTER TWO

  The Plan

  LATER THAT DAY after school, Lizzie and her friends gathered in the pizzeria. The space station had lots of different places to eat but they all liked pizzas the best. Lizzie gazed out of the window at the Earth below and sighed. What had she let herself in for now?

  “So what’re you going to do?” Naren asked.

  “I haven’t a clue!” Lizzie sighed again and leaned her head on her cupped hand. She stared down at her dinner plate. She hadn’t touched her Andorian beetle pizza and it was usually her favourite. She just didn’t seem to have much of an appetite.

  “Don’t you want your dinner?” Darla asked.

  Lizzie shook her head. Immediately, many different hands reached into her plate for her beetle pizza. Naren won!

  He chewed on the pizza with obvious relish, enjoying it all the more for the look of disappointment on his friends’ faces.

  “If you haven’t got a plan, why on earth did you want to race at seven o’clock tomorrow morning?” asked Darla.

  “I was hoping Jake would say it was too early!” Lizzie replied.

  “No chance! Jake would race you at three o’clock in the morning if it gave him a chance to show off!” sniffed Naren.

  Just then, Sarah came into the pizzeria. She took a quick look around before making for Lizzie’s table.

  “D’you know what I just heard?” Sarah asked furiously.

  Everyone shook their heads.

  “No? What?”

  “I left my pocket-PC in the classroom and I had to go back to get it so I could do my homework. But Jake and his friends were already there. Lizzie, Jake’s going to make sure that you don’t win. He’s going to sabotage your ship’s engine tonight so there’s no chance of your beating him.”

  “What a trog!” Darla exploded.

  “You said it.” Lizzie nodded vigorously. “He doesn’t have to fix my ship. His ship could beat mine fair and square.”

  “Jake doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘fair’,” Sarah sniffed.

  “We’ve got to teach him a lesson. We’ve got to! Come on, Lizzie – think!” Lizzie told herself sternly.

  She had to come up with a plan, but what? And then it hit her – like an asteroid shower!

  “I’ve got it! I’ve got it! I know how I can win this race and teach Jake a lesson once and for all,” Lizzie told her friends.

  They looked at each other.

  “We’re all ears!” said Sarah.

  “Good! Because I can’t do this without your help,” said Lizzie.

  “I’m going to need each and every one of you.”

  “We’re with you, Lizzie,” said Naren.

  And they all gathered closer to hear Lizzie’s plan.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The Race Begins

  THE FOLLOWING MORNING, at seven o’clock precisely, Lizzie and Jake entered docking-bag three. Both of their ships were there, waiting for take-off.

  “I’m surprised you bothered to turn up,” Jake told Lizzie.

  “I’m going to win this race,” smiled Lizzie.

  “You’ve got space fever!” Jake replied.

  “We’ll see!” Lizzie
climbed into her spaceship without another word. Once they were both cleared for take-off, the countdown began.

  Five… four… three… two… one! And they were off!

  Jake roared ahead at once. He veered towards Lizzie’s ship, forcing her to drop back or risk being smashed into. Jake watched, his hands relaxed behind his head as Lizzie’s ship fell further and further behind.

  By the time he had passed Mars, Lizzie’s ship was no more than a small blip on his rear viewscreen. Jake slowed down his own ship. He certainly didn’t have to hurry. Lizzie would never catch him now. He’d seen to that.

  Jake spoke to his computer. “Computer, connect me through to Lizzie’s ship.”

  Immediately Lizzie’s face appeared on the space communicator.

  “If you want to give up now, you’d save us both a lot of time and energy and you’d save yourself a lot of humiliation,” Jake told her.

  Lizzie frowned at him. “Jake, why on earth would I give up when I’m ahead of you?”

  “What’re you talking about?” said Jake.

  “Look out of your front viewscreen,” said Lizzie. “I’m approaching Jupiter now. You should be able to see me ahead of you.”

  “You can’t be ahead.” Jake was stunned. “You were thousands of kilometres behind me.”

  “Not any more. I spent all of yesterday evening fine-tuning my ship and what’s more I’ve got a secret weapon. You’ll never catch me,” grinned Lizzie.

  Jake looked. And sure enough, up ahead in the distance was Lizzie’s ship.

  “What’s your secret weapon? How did you pass me?” Jake was furious.

  “Temper! Temper!” Lizzie teased. “If you’ll admit defeat now and say my ship is better than yours then we don’t have to go any further.”

  “No way!” said Jake. “Computer, set course for Pluto at the maximum speed.”

  Jake’s ship lurched forward and started to race towards Jupiter. In less than five minutes, Jake passed Lizzie’s ship. He still couldn’t understand how Lizzie had passed him but it wouldn’t happen again.

  The next stop was Saturn and after that, Lizzie wouldn’t see him for space dust!

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Beaten!

  JAKE WAITED UNTIL he passed Saturn before slowing down again. Beaming like a light beacon, he reconnected with Lizzie’s ship.

  “I don’t know how you got ahead of me just now but it doesn’t matter – I’m winning again,” said Jake.

  “I don’t think so,” Lizzie shook her head. “I’ve almost reached Neptune so I’m in the lead.”

  And sure enough, when Jake checked his scanner, Lizzie’s ship was indeed ahead of him. Jake just couldn’t understand it.

  “Computer, go at the maximum possible speed,” ordered Jake. “I’m not going to lose this race – I’m not!”

  Jake’s ship raced past Uranus, towards Neptune. He soon passed Lizzie’s ship and headed on towards Pluto. Jake wasn’t going to take any chances this time. He wasn’t going to slow down until he got back to the space station. No wag was Lizzie going to pass him again.

  Jake zipped round Pluto and started making his wag back to the Astra space station. He had no idea how Lizzie managed to keep passing him. What was this secret weapon she had told him about? How could any secret weapon be better than diamond fuel? Jake scanned the area again as he neared Neptune on his return journey. His space communicator beeped at him. Moments later Lizzie’s face appeared.

  “Come on, Jake. I thought you’d be able to keep up with me at least,” Lizzie teased.

  “What d’you mean?” said Jake.

  “I’m coming up to the rings of Saturn,” Lizzie told him. “You’re going to have to do better than this!”

  “How are you doing it?” Jake asked, bewildered. “How d’you keep managing to pass me? I don’t even see you until you’re ahead of me.”

  “That’s thanks to my secret weapon. Besides, space is a big place. I don’t have to take exactly the same route as you,” Lizzie told him.

  “But…”

  “See you back at the space station,” Lizzie smiled.

  “Computer, maximum speed back home,” Jake commanded.

  “We have been travelling at maximum speed for the last five minutes and forty-four seconds,” the computer replied.

  Jake sped past Saturn, raced past Jupiter, zoomed past Mars and screeched to a halt back in docking-bay three on the space station. But it didn’t make any difference. By the time he landed, Lizzie was already there, waiting for him. He had been beaten.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Secret Weapon

  “I WANT TO see this secret weapon,” Jake demanded.

  “D’you admit that I beat you?” Lizzie asked.

  “Yes …” Jake said in a tiny voice.

  “I can’t hear you.”

  “YES!” Jake shouted. “Now can I see your secret weapon?”

  “I don’t think so,” Lizzie said, considering carefully.

  “Oh but … but I’m bursting to know how you managed to beat me,” Jake protested.

  “If you tell everyone that I beat you, I’ll think about it,” Lizzie grinned.

  Later on that day Lizzie and her friends, Naren and Sarah and Darla, all sat down for lunch. Lizzie looked out of the view-window and smiled at all the stars around them. She loved living on the Astra space station – there was always something new and exciting going on. And today was a particularly good day! Jake had been beaten!

  “Has Jake guessed how we did it yet?” asked Naren.

  Lizzie shook her head. “I feel a bit guilty about the way we beat him. After all, we did cheat.”

  “No, we didn’t. We just used our imaginations – that’s all!” laughed Sarah.

  “Besides, he was the one who tried to fix the race,” Darla pointed out.

  “Anyway, you were all brilliant!” said Lizzie. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  Just then Jake appeared, with an expression on his face that none of them had ever seen before. For once, he wasn’t smirking.

  “Listen everyone!” Jake shouted out. The school dining-hall went very quiet. “This morning Lizzie and I had a race out to Pluto and back and Lizzie beat me. I lost!”

  Everyone started clapping! The whole school knew about Jake’s boasting, and this was the first time he’d admitted he wasn’t perfect! Jake sat down at Lizzie’s table. “Now Lizzie, please, please tell me how you did it.”

  Lizzie looked around the table at her friends. Should she or shouldn’t she?

  “Well, if you must know …” she began.

  Jake leaned closer.

  “I didn’t race you – not really,” Lizzie admitted.

  “What d’you mean?” frowned Jake.

  “I mean, I got as far as Mars and turned back,” said Lizzie.

  “But I saw your ship. First you were ahead of me at Jupiter and then I had to overtake you again at Neptune,” said Jake. “And on the way back, you were ahead of me again at Saturn.”

  “No, I wasn’t.” Lizzie smiled. “You passed Sarah’s ship at Jupiter and you passed Naren’s ship at Neptune. And on the way back, you passed Darla’s ship at Saturn. One good thing about all of us having old ships is that they all look the same. I just came back here and pretended it was me all the time.”

  “So … so it wasn’t you …” Jake was amazed.

  “Nope! My friends were my secret weapon,” said Lizzie.

  Jake leapt to his feet. “But that’s not fair. I’m going to tell everyone …”

  “How you fixed my engine so there was no way I could beat you?” Lizzie asked. “How you couldn’t even race against me fair and square without cheating?”

  Jake stared at her.

  “How did you find out about that?”

  “A little comet told me!” Lizzie replied. “And the next time you have a race, don’t cheat! You might find you actually win!”

  THE END

  About the Author

  MALORIE BLAC
KMAN is acknowledged as one of today’s most imaginative and convincing writers for young readers. Her book Noughts & Crosses has won several prizes, including the Children’s Book Award. Malorie is also the only author to have won the Young Telegraph/Gimme 5 Award twice with Hacker and Thief! Her work has appeared on screen, with Pig-Heart Boy, which was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, being adapted into a BAFTA-award-winning TV serial. Malorie has also written a number of titles for younger readers.

  In 2005, Malorie was honoured with the Eleanor Farjeon Award in recognition of her distinguished contribution to the world of children’s books.

  In 2008, she received an OBE for her services to children’s literature.

  www.malorieblackman.co.uk

  Also available by Malorie Blackman

  and published by Doubleday/Corgi Yearling Books:

  The Noughts & Crosses sequence

  Noughts & Crosses

  Knife Edge

  Checkmate

  Double Cross

  The Stuff of Nightmares